NEW YORK, Feb 13, 2006/ FW/ --- Showing a total of 72 exits, Ralph Rucci unveiled his Fall 2006 Chado Ralph Rucci ready-to-wear and Spring 2006 Ralph Rucci Chado haute couture collections Friday night, officially closing the New York season.

It is fitting that Ralph Rucci showed the final collections for the season, because though this will sound like a cliché, it is ‘saving the best for last.

And though his press notes clearly stated the division between the two collections and there was a distinct change on the runway when ready-to-wear ended and haute couture began, from a bird’s eye view, both collections are as beautiful, as sensual and as demure as each other.

For those uninitiated to the fine points of haute couture, it will be hard to delineate which ones are prêt-a-porter and which ones is haute couture. With Ralph Rucci, it will really take a trained eye to see. The New York-based designer had been quoted once saying that he ‘approaches ready-to-wear the same that he approaches haute couture.’

That means his attention to details, masterful tailoring and decisive cuts are both employed when creating both collections.

So, let it be said that for Fall 2006, Chado Ralph Rucci’s sumptuous fur coats & jackets, A-line skirts, shift dresses and slim fitting trousers is more than just ready-to-wear. Call it demi-couture if you will, but it is not the run-of-the-mill ‘off the rack’ clothing.

But, the moment you see the Ralph Rucci Chado collection, the designer’s haute couture line, then you begin to understand the artistry, creativity and innovations that made the made-to-measure craft the cream of the crop in fashion.

Day dresses that reach just above the knee were treated with Rucci’s famous ‘open seamwork’ or intricate embroidery. Wispy yarns were turned into lacy embroidery that were probably woven one by one or piece by piece to get the perfect squares that became adornments.

Volume was controlled in the empire gowns that were divided into gores and godets, with alternating hand painted section and solid. A taut bodice on cocktail dresses that flared slowly and with restraint adorned with ostrich feathers, also with restraint.

And when the models came all at once for the finale, all of them wearing strapless tube gown with a single spaghetti strap diagonally placed, the audience stood up giving Ralph Rucci a standing ovation even before he came out to take his bow.